Orange Taylor III again stayed seated throughout the final day of his trial Friday in the slaying of a fellow Eastern Michigan University student, opting not to testify on his own behalf.

And like at his first trial last fall, which ended in a hung jury after more than two days of deliberations, not a single witness testified for the defense.

But the overall defense strategy - laid out during cross examination of witnesses and 40 minutes of closing arguments Friday afternoon - took a different tone.

Instead of explaining why investigators found Taylor's DNA on Laura Dickinson's body and bed inside her dorm room on Dec. 15, 2006, Assistant Public Defender Lorne Brown said his client "took advantage" of a situation without elaborating. Then he attacked the credibility of long-time Washtenaw County Medical Examiner Bader Cassin.

ELIYAHU GURFINKEL | THE ANN ARBOR NEWSOrange Taylor III did not testify on his own behalf Friday.

The week-long trial ended Friday after both sides made their final remarks. Circuit Judge Archie Brown dismissed jurors until Monday morning, when they will start deliberations.

At his first trial last fall, Taylor's private attorney, Alvin Keel, argued that Taylor entered Dickinson's room on the fifth floor of Hill Hall to steal items. He said Taylor, 21, then masturbated on Dickinson's body on the floor, not realizing the 22-year-old Hastings native was dead.

The two public defenders assigned to represent Taylor this time acknowledged he was in the room and did something to account for the incriminating clothing fibers and DNA evidence at the scene. But Brown insisted it didn't make Taylor a killer.

"Orange Taylor goes in and sees her and does something he's ashamed of. Something he doesn't want to admit," Brown told jurors. "But Laura Dickinson never had a chance because she's already dead."

Brown challenged Cassin's inability to determine whether Dickinson was strangled or suffocated and suggested his testimony this time around was much more assertive due to the first trial's result.

"Dr. Cassin knows that at the first trial the issue was with his testimony, and he's a man of pride," Brown said. "The fact that he can't tell exactly what happened or rule out other causes tells you he has doubt. And if the medical examiner has doubt, then you should have doubt."

On the stand Friday morning, Cassin acknowledged he was aware of comments about his testimony at the first trial. He again insisted he was as thorough as possible considering Dickinson's body was heavily decomposed.

ELIYAHU GURFINKEL | THE ANN ARBOR NEWSAssistant Public Defender Lorne Brown said the evidence against Orange Taylor III does not make him a killer.

Cassin said he deemed her death a homicide due to several factors, including the suspicious nature of the crime scene and the lack of disease and significant injury. A cardiologist who treated Dickinson in 2005 testified Thursday that her previous heart arrhythmia was not a threat to her health.

Assistant Prosecutor Blaine Longsworth, who called 30 witnesses and entered well over 200 exhibits during the trial, told the jury to focus on the "overwhelming" evidence.

Even without his testimony, Taylor's own words played a prominent role over the last three days as jurors heard nearly five hours of his initial interview with detectives.

Longsworth called the interview a classic example of a criminal trying to cover up his crime, noting Taylor's shifting stories. In the tapes, he discusses entering dorms and looking for unlocked rooms to steal items.

"In this case Orange Taylor violated every one of his own rules because on this night, he isn't just going to steal, on this night was looking for a woman. Prowling for a women to satisfy his desires," Longsworth said.

Most of the Dickinson family and about two dozen supporters left the courtroom in tears when Longsworth finished his remarks.